blinking/strobing flashlight

[SemiAutoSam]

Excellent
Thanks for the link. I have been putting off the purchase of one of these flashlights until I found batteries that were rechargeable.

I'm set on D cell Mag lights but in this area I have been deficient.

This may just be the ticket.

I had never noticed rechargeable 123s, but then again I never looked.

The I saw this on their site:

http://www.fenixtactical.com/tenergy-rcr123a-battery-charger.html

I'm sure there are cheaper out there...

[sb_pete]

There are tons of lights with that function. Check out candle power forums if you have a real interest in lighting technology. A P3D is a great light. For the record, Fenix does make alot of lights in various configurations some allowing momentary on and some with reverse clicky switches which do not. The P2D does not have any real knurling because it is meant to be a pocket utility light. As any surefire EDC light (E1e, L1, E1B, etc) can tell you, that aggressive knurling is great for maintaining grip under stress but much less good for the longevity of anything sharing pocket space with the light, including the pocket itself, which will quickly wear a hole in and you will often find yourself with a brand new, high tech shoe light instead of pocket light.

One of the problems I see is the interface - what's it take to get it into strobe mode, and are you really going to want to be clicking away on your flashlight while the S is hitting TF around you.

My little Fenix P2D takes a bezel twist and 2 clicks to make it strobe, if I leave it in normal flashlight mode (which I do). I'm not that happy with the ergonomics of this light either - it's slippery, the knurling is ineffective, the flats are strictly for appearance and don't keep it from rolling, and there's no lockout. It also doesn't let you do a tactical soft-push to get a momentary light, which I'm totally dependent on in tac lights - you have to click it on before you can do anything with it.

The other Fenix's may be better designed as tactical lights - this one's definitely not, but that may not be its target market. It's more of an EDC light with blinky features.

Check out the new Fenix TK10 as a tac light. The Gladius was great a year and a half ago, but tech moves quickly these days as we all know.

You also would probably be interested in a Nightcore Defender Infinity available from tadgear (only US source as of now) (no I have no financial interest in either the light or Tadgear btw). The DI can use any rechargeable or primary AA sized batteries (NiMh, alkaline, ni-cad, E2, 14500 li-ion), has a tactical style forward clicky, and can be set to turn on to disorienting strobe as its first and primary function if you so desire. It is also shockingly bright to those used to maglite kind of output. It also has a fully adjustable secondary output which can be made very dim to preserve nightvision if you so desire. Despite all those features, the UI is simple enough for an untrained monkey. Yeah, I do love mine.

With regard to these flashlights that take the 123 Lithium battery.

Are the batteries made in a rechargeable type ?

Yes, but it gets kinda complicated. CR123 are 3V nominal, rechargeables come in 3.7v nominal Li-Ion, 3.2v nominal regulated li-ion, and 3v nominal LiFe PO4. The LiFe PO4 do not have alot of capacity (about 1/3 of a primary). The others also have less capacity than regular cr123 primaries (about 3/5's). Just about all LED lights will run fine with either 3.2v or LiFePO4 rechargeables, but high strung incandescent lights like surefires are very picky about voltage as they are already optimized (read running at the ragged edge of capacity) for 3v. In other words, you may blow the bulbs.
Battery Junction is a good place to buy rechargeable batteries in general and Matt K, the guy who runs the shop is a nice guy to work with.

Hope that helped,
-Pete

[blackbox]

The other Fenix's may be better designed as tactical lights - this one's definitely not, but that may not be its target market. It's more of an EDC light with blinky features.

+1. I've got a P3D Cree, and while its a good bright flashlight, it isn't at all at the same "tactical" level as a surefire. The aluminum body is much lighter weight, and its got a few annoying quirks. The 5-mode switching is not anything you will be doing in a stress situation. Biggest "bug" though is that it comes on in medium brightness, but first "pulses" at the high brightness level, just long enough to hurt your night vision.

sb_pete, those other newer light look worth checking out though... But I'd still be concerned about the build quality vs. surefire.

[SONYEXEC]

wow interesting stuff here on flashlights....who knew?!? And I though I was being cutting edge by slapping a halogen bulb on my 3-cell mag light

[maxicon]

wow interesting stuff here on flashlights....who knew?!? And I though I was being cutting edge by slapping a halogen bulb on my 3-cell mag light

You want cutting edge for your Maglite? Go to www.malkoffdevices.com and get on their mailing list so you can pick up a $75 240 lumen drop-in for it. Sure, it's expensive, but the output is amazing, the build quality is excellent, and the beam shape is much better than the low-priced spread.

That would make a great car light...


As for the P2D lack of knurling, I think they went too far, especially with the slippery finish, and the lack of an anti-roll feature has been a pretty big headache for me. I've dropped mine dozens of times already - thank goodness it's an LED! It's a great little pocket light aside from that (that momentary high-output flash is slightly annoying, but I'm living with it), and if it had an anodized finish instead of powdercoat or whatever it's got, it would help quite a lot. The lack of lockout has caused me to kill the battery 3 or 4 times now, too, which sort'a goes against the whole idea of an EDC light. I liked the glow in the dark o-ring until it fell out.

I'm about ready to take a Dremel or a jeweler's saw to it to add some gripability, but that won't help the roll or lockout. I put grip tape on it briefly, but that was way too aggressive for the other stuff in my pocket.

If it were $25, I'd be pretty durn happy with it, but for $50+, it's really not up to snuff.

[sb_pete]

+1. I've got a P3D Cree, and while its a good bright flashlight, it isn't at all at the same "tactical" level as a surefire.

The aluminum body is much lighter weight, and its got a few annoying quirks. The 5-mode switching is not anything you will be doing in a stress situation. Biggest "bug" though is that it comes on in medium brightness, but first "pulses" at the high brightness level, just long enough to hurt your night vision.

sb_pete, those other newer light look worth checking out though... But I'd still be concerned about the build quality vs. surefire.

You are right about the P3D not being as "tactical" as the Surefire line, the same is true of the comparable Olight T20 tacitcal series. That said, this is not at all true of the new TK10 they just started offering which is built, dare I say it, even tougher than surefire lights in the main. It is very thick aluminum and very heavy duty. It has a removable pocketclip (via screws like modern pocketknives) and a removable gladius-style ring for the cigar hold.

The "pulse" you speak of was an acknowledged bug of the early P2D line. My P2D rebel 100 does it and it is indeed annoying (although the much warmer color temp of the rebel emitters makes up for this which is why I still EDC it in spite of having other brighter and more tactical edc lights). The "pulse" has since been resolved and the new lights (like the P2D Q5) do not do it. It also has a built in memory and with bezel loose can be made to turn on to any of those three brightness settings (check the manual, but IIRC it will start up in a mode you leave it on for more than 20 seconds and then turn off for __ seconds). I have mine set to turn on in low mode for example.

As for the new ones, I own a surefire 6P and an L1 cree. the 2nd gen nightcore Defender Infinity is built just as tough and fills a size/output/battery versatility niche that surefire simply has no offerings in.

You want cutting edge for your Maglite? Go to www.malkoffdevices.com and get on their mailing list so you can pick up a $75 240 lumen drop-in for it. Sure, it's expensive, but the output is amazing, the build quality is excellent, and the beam shape is much better than the low-priced spread.

I don't own one, but these drop ins are widely regarded as the best of their kind. Their price is a reflection of the small, hand made by an-engineer-in-Oregon nature as well as the heavy-duty custom heatsink onto which the emitters are mounted. Unlike other led drop-ins (like maglite's own or the terralux ones) the Malkoff devices will not overheat themselves and ruin the emitter under extended use.

As for the P2D lack of knurling, I think they went too far, especially with the slippery finish, and the lack of an anti-roll feature has been a pretty big headache for me. I've dropped mine dozens of times already - thank goodness it's an LED! It's a great little pocket light aside from that (that momentary high-output flash is slightly annoying, but I'm living with it), and if it had an anodized finish instead of powdercoat or whatever it's got, it would help quite a lot. The lack of lockout has caused me to kill the battery 3 or 4 times now, too, which sort'a goes against the whole idea of an EDC light. I liked the glow in the dark o-ring until it fell out.

I'm about ready to take a Dremel or a jeweler's saw to it to add some gripability, but that won't help the roll or lockout. I put grip tape on it briefly, but that was way too aggressive for the other stuff in my pocket.

I see where you're coming from, but keep in mind the P2D was not intended as a tactical light. Surefire has done the same thing on their new E1B which comes without the aggressive knurling as well. While not as tactical (a conscious trade-off), I for one like the fact that it is much friendlier with my cell-phone and pocket lining. It is also much less likely to mess up my teeth when I hold it in my mouth to work with both hands.

The finish is a HAIII hard anodizing. This is the same process (color being a simple matter of dye) as the more expensive Surefires (the 6p still uses type II anodizing like maglites though). By nature this is vaguely less slippery than a typeII, but the lack of knurling and generally concentric design work against this. Try putting a couple large O-rings over the gap in the separate pieces. I don't know where to get such o-rings off hand, but I have seen pictures of this done by others who claim it helps the grip quite a bit. The P2D will always be a roll away from you kind of light though

On my Olight T10's (a similar light), I have found that the pocket clip from rayovac 2AA lights fits and prevents rolling, but does not fit the P2D. For an even smaller one, check out the Tiablo MA1 which is like a mini tac-light (in appearance - it is a twist-on, but has a reversible pocket-clip).

Hope that helps,
-Pete

[Socal858]

i wrapped portions of my p3d q5 with hockey tape and it holds much better in my hand

i leave it on high so if i have trouble i'll click it to high and soft press it (the soft press is a lot more subtle than youd think) to strobe

i always thought people on candlepoewr forums said somethign about a lockout on the tailcap but ive never tried it to verify

[Socal858]

[FlyingPen]

Between the Nightcore and TK10, what's better for a AR?

[Army]

Unless you want some real power out of your big MagLights..

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3372

Haven't been able to use mine yet, as I brought only the 2D cell Mag with me. But the 6D at home is gonna have a nice surprise

[trinydex]

Check out the new Fenix TK10 as a tac light. The Gladius was great a year and a half ago, but tech moves quickly these days as we all know.

wow on the candle forums reviews there are many tk10 threads... this is really the hot shizzy?

[aplinker]

That is one tacticool oven

[lerroy1119]

I have a NovaTac EDC 120T. Kinda pricey at about $130 $150 but it's really nice.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=168846

[ByTheNumbers]

I feel like this would be in fact distracting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoVKUVOnfQ

That's great! And an example of how NOT to take a field sobriety test!

[FlyingPen]

Streamlight TLR-1 vs SSL-1 for a P226R, major differences between the two?